Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC Grows Stake in General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 16.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,095 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 292 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Austin Private Wealth LLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,733 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. increased its position in General Dynamics by 39.6% during the fourth quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,992 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,579,000 after buying an additional 1,699 shares in the last quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in General Dynamics by 30.6% during the fourth quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC now owns 897 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sonora Investment Management Group LLC purchased a new position in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth $205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of General Dynamics stock opened at $256.80 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $70.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.61. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $247.01 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $267.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $286.76.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $1.42 dividend. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.64%.

Insider Activity at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, VP Christopher J. Brady sold 5,540 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $1,556,241.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,296 shares in the company, valued at $5,701,349.36. The trade was a 21.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GD. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $330.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Baird R W cut General Dynamics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $301.24.

About General Dynamics

General Dynamics Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Aerospace, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, and Technologies. The Aerospace segment produces and sells business jets; and offers aircraft maintenance and repair, management, aircraft-on-ground support and completion, charter, staffing, and fixed-base operator services.